How to Get Paid as a Family Caregiver in Georgia (2026)

Becoming a Georgia paid family caregiver is possible through a constellation of programs that almost no aggregator article maps correctly. Hundreds of thousands of Georgians provide unpaid care every year to neighbors, parents, spouses, and adult children with disabilities. Most will never be paid a dime, but a meaningful slice can be. The headline pathway is Structured Family Caregiving (SFC), a Medicaid waiver service that pays a primary live-in family caregiver roughly $80 a day, tax-free (about $1,987 to $2,400 a month) through Georgia's CCSP and SOURCE waivers. Five other paid-family rails sit behind it. And there is one expectation-management point that matters more than any other in this guide: Georgia Medicaid will not pay you to care for your spouse. Only the VA will. If you are reading this because a parent just had a stroke, or because your adult child's developmental disability is making private-pay care impossible to sustain, or because the VA has finally rated your spouse at 70%, this guide walks through every legitimate 2026 pathway that does pay a family member in Georgia, why SFC is the most distinctive, and how to stack SFC with veteran benefits, the state's small-but-real caregiver tax credit, and the Georgia Family Care Act so a household has a real shot at making caregiving viable.

By Brevy Care Team

Key takeaways before you read further

• Georgia is one of about a dozen states with Structured Family Caregiving (SFC). Under SFC, a primary live-in family caregiver who shares the home with a Medicaid-enrolled relative is paid roughly $80 a day (~$560/week, ~$1,987–$2,400/month) tax-free under IRS Notice 2014-7. SFC is delivered as a service inside the Community Care Services Program (CCSP) and SOURCE 1915(c) waivers, by Medicaid-contracted agencies including Careforth, Health Force of Georgia, Structured Family Caregiving of Georgia, and Passion to Care.
• Georgia Medicaid does not pay spouses to be caregivers. Across SFC, CCSP self-direction, SOURCE self-direction, the Independent Care Waiver Program (ICWP), and NOW/COMP Family Hire, a legally-recognized spouse, parent of a minor child, legal guardian, or conservator cannot be the paid family caregiver. The only spousal-pay pathway in Georgia is the VA stack: PCAFC, Veteran-Directed Care, and (indirectly) Aid & Attendance.
• Adult children, siblings, in-laws, parents of an adult Medicaid recipient, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and cousins can be paid in most of Georgia's Medicaid pathways. The hard exclusions are the four roles above (spouse, parent of minor, guardian, conservator).
• NOW and COMP, Georgia's I/DD waivers, re-tightened Family Hire on November 12, 2023 when the COVID-era Appendix K flexibilities sunset and the original Provider Manual rules came back into force. Family Hire is now case-by-case, with documented hardship and annual renewal.
• Georgia has a state caregiver tax credit, but it's small. O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.2 caps the Qualified Caregiving Expense Credit at $150 per taxpayer per year (10% of up to $1,500 in qualified expenses). Two bills, SB 187 (raise cap to $500) and SB 588 (further increase plus kin-care expansion), are pending in the 2026 General Assembly, but neither is enacted as of May 2026.
• VA pays Georgia spouses through PCAFC. A Georgia veteran rated 70%+ service-connected (or with equivalent functional impairment under post-2020 rules) can name a spouse as Primary Family Caregiver. The 2026 monthly stipend is approximately $3,209 in the Atlanta locality and $3,034 in the Rest-of-Georgia locality at Level 2, both tax-free.
• Georgia has no state Paid Family Leave for private workers. The Georgia Family Care Act (O.C.G.A. § 34-1-10) lets you use up to 5 days of accrued paid sick leave per year to care for an immediate family member, but only if your employer voluntarily offers paid sick leave to begin with. State employees have a separate paid parental leave program of up to 240 hours.
• The front door is the ADRC. Call 1-866-552-4464. The Georgia Aging & Disability Resource Connection routes you by ZIP to one of 12 Area Agencies on Aging that handle CCSP and SOURCE intake, NFCSP respite, and benefits screening.

The 60-second version

If you are caring for a Georgia adult who needs nursing-facility-level help at home, the most direct paid path is Structured Family Caregiving inside the CCSP or SOURCE waiver. Your loved one applies for Georgia Medicaid, gets screened by the regional ADRC at 1-866-552-4464, is assessed at nursing-facility level of care, and is enrolled in CCSP (if 65+ or disabled and waitlist permits) or SOURCE (if frail elderly with a documented chronic condition, generally no waitlist, a major practical advantage). Once waiver-enrolled, the case manager adds SFC to the care plan and the family is matched with an SFC agency. The agency hires the live-in family member as a W-2 employee. Direct deposit follows weekly or bi-weekly.

If you are a spouse, this pathway is closed to you. So is CCSP self-direction, SOURCE self-direction, ICWP self-direction, and NOW/COMP Family Hire. Georgia Medicaid is one of the most uniformly spouse-restrictive programs in the country. Read that sentence twice. The VA, on the other hand, does pay spouses, through PCAFC, Veteran-Directed Care, and (indirectly, by giving the veteran more income to spend) Aid & Attendance.

If you are caring for an adult child with a developmental disability, your paid pathways are NOW (lower-intensity supports) or COMP (comprehensive supports). Both have multi-year waitlists. Family Hire under NOW/COMP is permitted case-by-case with documented hardship and annual review since the November 12, 2023 reinstatement of the original Provider Manual rules.

If you are caring for an adult under 65 with severe physical disability or traumatic brain injury, the relevant program is ICWP, the Independent Care Waiver Program. ICWP supports self-direction of Personal Support Services. Spouse-pay is barred; adult children and other adult relatives may be hired.

If your loved one is a wartime veteran, the VA Aid & Attendance supplement to VA Pension can put up to $2,424/month for a single veteran or ~$2,874/month for a married veteran with one dependent in their pocket, money they can use to pay you privately. A veteran rated 70%+ service-connected can also unlock PCAFC stipends of approximately $3,034 to $3,209/month at Level 2 depending on Georgia locality, plus VA Veteran-Directed Care (VDC) budgets typically in the $1,800 to $2,600/month range.

The details (and the catches) are below.

Georgia paid family caregiver pathway map

Each row is a separate door. Many Georgia households combine three or four. A common veteran-caregiver stack is A&A + PCAFC + VDC plus the GA caregiver tax credit. A common civilian stack is SFC + the GA caregiver tax credit + Family Care Act sick leave for the working spouse who is not the SFC primary. There is no Georgia equivalent of New Jersey's Personal Preference Program, meaning a spouse cannot stack a Medicaid wage onto the household. The structural difference matters.

The Georgia spouse-pay rule, read this first

The single most important rule in this entire guide is the categorical bar on spouse-pay across every Georgia Medicaid rail.

SFC explicitly excludes a spouse from being the paid family caregiver. CCSP Personal Support Consumer Direction excludes a spouse. SOURCE participant direction excludes a spouse. ICWP self-direction excludes a spouse. NOW and COMP Family Hire exclude a spouse. GAPP (Georgia Pediatric Program) cannot pay a parent of a minor child for legally-responsible-relative tasks, by federal floor.

The same rule reaches three other roles: the parent of a minor-child Medicaid recipient (the federal §1915 prohibition), a legal guardian, and a conservator acting under a guardianship-style appointment. None of these four can be hired into the paid family caregiver slot in Georgia Medicaid.

The rule does not extend to:

• An adult child caring for an aging parent.
• A parent caring for an adult child Medicaid recipient (different from the parent-of-minor case).
• A sibling, in-law, niece, nephew, cousin, grandparent, grandchild, or other adult blood/marriage relative.
• A friend or unrelated worker in some pathways (though SFC requires a relative by blood or marriage; PSCD is more permissive on unrelated workers).

The single state-level path around the spouse-pay bar in Georgia is the VA. PCAFC explicitly permits a spouse to be the Primary Family Caregiver, and VDC explicitly permits a spouse to be the participant-directed worker. A&A does not directly pay a spouse. It pays the veteran a tax-free pension supplement that the veteran may then use to pay anyone (including a spouse) privately.

If you are reading this guide because you Googled "how to get paid to care for my husband in Georgia" or "Georgia Medicaid pay spouse caregiver," and most of you did, pause. If your loved one is a wartime veteran, the answer is the VA stack below. If your loved one is not a veteran, the answer in Georgia is no Medicaid wage, but private pay funded by Aid & Attendance for an eligible veteran's surviving spouse, or by the GA caregiver tax credit, or by FMLA/Family Care Act sick leave for an employed caregiver, or by reorganizing the caregiving role so a non-spouse adult child or sibling holds the SFC slot while you provide secondary care, may still be on the table.

Pathway 1: Structured Family Caregiving (SFC) under CCSP and SOURCE

SFC is Georgia's flagship paid-family pathway and the program most likely to actually put money in your pocket if you live with the person you are caring for and you are not their spouse.

SFC is delivered as an authorized waiver service inside two of Georgia's 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services waivers: CCSP (Community Care Services Program, sometimes called the Elderly and Disabled Waiver) and SOURCE (Service Options Using Resources in a Community Environment). Both waivers are administered by the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) as the single state Medicaid agency, with operational delivery split between the Department of Human Services Division of Aging Services (DAS) for CCSP and SOURCE-enrolled lead clinical providers for SOURCE.

What SFC actually pays

The SFC stipend in Georgia runs roughly $80 per day, which works out to about $560 a week and $1,987 to $2,400 a month depending on assessed acuity tier and waiver. The exact daily rate is set in the SFC service definition inside each waiver's fee schedule, and the SFC agency typically pays the family caregiver 50% to 65% of the per-diem Medicaid pays the agency, retaining the balance to fund Care Coach visits, RN supervision, training, and overhead.

Critically, SFC payments are styled as "difficulty-of-care" payments under IRS Notice 2014-7 and IRC § 131(c). When the caregiver and the Medicaid recipient share a household (which SFC requires), the stipend is excludable from federal gross income. A live-in SFC caregiver typically reports $0 in W-2 box 1 federal taxable wages, even though they earned $24,000 to $29,000 in gross stipend during the year.

Who can be the SFC caregiver

The SFC caregiver must be:

• 18 or older.
• Living in the same home as the Medicaid recipient. SFC is a co-resident program by design.
• Related by blood or marriage: adult child, parent (of an adult recipient), sibling, in-law, niece, nephew, grandchild, cousin all qualify. Friends and unrelated neighbors generally do not qualify under SFC (this differs from CCSP PSCD self-direction, which is more permissive on unrelated workers).
• Past a criminal background check.
• Unable to work outside the home because of caregiving, that is, SFC must be the caregiver's primary income. This is a Georgia-specific operational rule embedded in SFC agency contracts.
• Providing at least 5 hours of caregiving per day, including assistance with one or more activities of daily living.

The hard exclusions: spouses, parents of minor-child Medicaid recipients, legal guardians, and conservators. None can be the paid SFC caregiver in Georgia.

Who can be the SFC recipient

The Medicaid recipient must be:

• Georgia Medicaid eligible.
• Enrolled in CCSP or SOURCE, that is, already approved at nursing-facility level of care under one of the two waivers. SFC is a service inside those waivers, not a separate program.
• Needing assistance with activities of daily living.

What the program includes beyond the stipend

SFC bundles in:

• A dedicated Care Coach, typically a registered nurse or licensed social worker, who makes regular home visits (monthly or more often based on acuity).
• 24/7 phone support for clinical questions and after-hours emergencies.
• At least 8 hours of caregiver training per year, with some agencies offering more.
• Backup respite when the caregiver is sick, traveling, or otherwise unavailable.
• EVV documentation through the agency's app (typically Mobile Caregiver+ from Netsmart, the state EVV vendor).

Application path: SFC

1. The Medicaid recipient must first be approved for CCSP or SOURCE. This is the gating step. SFC cannot be added to a care plan until the underlying waiver is in place.
2. Once waiver-enrolled, the family contacts an SFC agency: Careforth (866-470-3217), Structured Family Caregiving of Georgia (866-938-3738), Health Force of Georgia, Passion to Care, and others.
3. The SFC agency requests assignment as the recipient's SFC provider through the AAA case manager (CCSP) or SOURCE lead clinical provider.
4. An RN from the SFC agency completes an in-home assessment and confirms the household qualifies.
5. The family caregiver onboards as an agency W-2 employee. Background check, training, and EVV setup occur in this window.
6. Direct deposit begins on the agency's payroll cycle (weekly or bi-weekly).

Total realistic timeline from first ADRC call to first SFC paycheck: 90 to 180 days, dominated by the underlying waiver enrollment. If your loved one is already on CCSP or SOURCE when you start the SFC process, the layer-on can run 45 to 90 days.

A realistic SFC budget

A live-in adult-child SFC caregiver in metro Atlanta whose parent is on SOURCE and assessed at the typical mid-acuity tier might net:

• ~$2,200/month in tax-free SFC stipend (federal exclusion under § 131(c)).
• No Georgia state income tax if Georgia conforms to the federal exclusion (Georgia generally conforms to federal AGI for state purposes, but a Georgia CPA should confirm before relying on it).
• Eligibility for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit under the Feigh v. Commissioner / IRS Notice 2020-15 election to treat excluded payments as earned income for EITC purposes, plus Georgia's state EITC equivalent where applicable.

That's roughly $26,400 a year in tax-advantaged income for a co-resident adult-child caregiver of a parent, meaningfully below typical wage work, but often the difference between leaving paid employment to caregive and being unable to caregive at all. SFC is not a wealth-builder; it is a viability bridge.

Pathway 2: CCSP Personal Support Consumer Direction (PSCD)

If your household does not fit SFC (typically because the caregiver does not live with the Medicaid recipient, or because you need more flexibility on hours and worker selection), CCSP Personal Support Consumer Direction (PSCD) is the alternative inside the CCSP waiver.

PSCD is Georgia's name for participant-directed personal support services. The Medicaid recipient (or their authorized representative) becomes the common-law employer, hires their own personal support worker, sets the schedule, and supervises the work. The Financial Management Services (FMS) entity contracted by DCH handles the federal EIN registration, payroll, withholdings, EVV integration, and W-2 issuance.

Who can be hired under PSCD

• Adult children, parents of adult recipients, siblings, in-laws, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, cousins, friends, and unrelated workers can be hired.
• Spouses cannot be hired. Same rule as SFC.
• Parents of minor-child recipients cannot be hired (federal §1915 floor).
• Legal guardians and conservators cannot be hired as the paid personal support worker.

In practice, family hire under PSCD is more accessible in rural Georgia counties where licensed home-care providers are scarce and the case manager has documented difficulty staffing the care plan with credentialed agency workers. Metro-Atlanta PSCD family-hire approvals tend to require a clearer hardship case.

Eligibility: CCSP recipient

• Aged 65+ or disabled at any age.
• Income at or below 300% of the SSI Federal Benefit Rate, approximately $2,901/month for a single applicant in 2026.
• Countable assets at or below $2,000 (single) / $3,000 (couple) under the ABD-Medicaid pathway.
• Functional eligibility at nursing-facility level of care, demonstrated by the state's DMA-6 / level-of-care assessment.

CCSP is not an entitlement. It operates a waitlist when slot capacity is reached. Aggregator estimates put combined CCSP+SOURCE annual slots near 49,400 statewide, but waitlist length varies by region and quarter.

Application path: CCSP

1. Apply for Georgia Medicaid at gateway.ga.gov or the local Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) office.
2. Call the regional ADRC at 1-866-552-4464 for CCSP screening. The ADRC routes by ZIP to the appropriate AAA.
3. Complete an in-home DMA-6 functional assessment through the AAA case management entity.
4. Wait for slot availability. Some AAAs have minimal waitlists; others run multi-month queues.
5. Develop the care plan with the AAA case manager.
6. Elect PSCD at care-plan stage and identify your worker. The FMS entity sends an enrollment packet.
7. Worker completes background check, training, and EVV onboarding.
8. First shifts log; first paycheck arrives 14 days after first time entry.

Pathway 3: SOURCE participant direction

SOURCE, Service Options Using Resources in a Community Environment, is CCSP's sister waiver. Both operate under the umbrella Elderly and Disabled Waiver Program (EDWP) authority.

SOURCE differs from CCSP in two practical ways. First, SOURCE recipients have a higher clinical/medical-risk profile: frail elderly or adults with disabilities and a documented chronic condition requiring active medical management. Second, SOURCE generally has no waitlist. For families whose loved one is medically complex and currently on a CCSP queue, switching the application track to SOURCE (if the clinical picture supports it) is often faster.

What's different about SOURCE

• SOURCE is delivered through SOURCE-enrolled lead primary care providers: physician practices or clinics that combine primary care, care coordination, and HCBS authorization in one contract. The case manager and the doctor are at the same site.
• The income limit aligns with SSI (approximately $994/month for a single applicant in 2026, post-COLA; verify the exact 2026 figure with DCH) or 300% SSI-FBR depending on the eligibility category. Asset limits mirror CCSP: $2,000 single / $3,000 couple.
• Self-direction is permitted. SFC is also delivered under SOURCE.
• Family-hire rules mirror CCSP: spouse-bar, parent-of-minor-bar, guardian/conservator-bar.

Application path: SOURCE

1. Apply for Georgia Medicaid.
2. Contact a SOURCE lead-provider clinic. DCH publishes the SOURCE provider list.
3. The clinic conducts the assessment and submits the waiver enrollment.
4. Once enrolled, layer SFC with an SFC agency or participant direction through the FMS entity.

Pathway 4: Independent Care Waiver Program (ICWP)

ICWP is Georgia's 1915(c) waiver for adults ages 21 to 64 with severe physical disabilities or traumatic brain injury (TBI) who require nursing-facility or hospital level of care. It is administered by DCH; intake runs through Alliant Health Solutions / Georgia Medical Care Foundation at 800-982-0411 or 888-669-7195.

Self-direction and family hire under ICWP

ICWP does offer self-direction of Personal Support Services. The hard exclusions are the standard four: spouses, parents of minor children, legal guardians, and persons with power of attorney cannot be hired as paid PSS workers under ICWP self-direction. Adult children, siblings, parents of an adult ICWP recipient, in-laws, cousins, and unrelated workers may be hired.

ICWP services include Personal Support Services, Home Health, Specialized Medical Equipment, Counseling, Emergency Response Systems, Home Modifications, Skilled Nursing, and Behavioral Support.

Application path: ICWP

1. Apply for Georgia Medicaid.
2. Call Alliant GMCF at the numbers above to initiate the ICWP screening.
3. Complete the in-home assessment.
4. Once enrolled, elect self-direction and identify a PSS worker.

ICWP is a separate waiver from CCSP and SOURCE. A recipient picks one waiver: ICWP recipients cannot also be on CCSP or SOURCE.

Pathway 5: NOW and COMP (the I/DD waivers)

Georgia's two intellectual and developmental disability waivers, the New Options Waiver (NOW) and the Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program (COMP), are administered by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) at 1-800-436-7442. NOW provides lower-intensity supports; COMP provides comprehensive 24-hour residential and day-program supports.

Family Hire under NOW and COMP

NOW and COMP both permit participant-directed services, and inside that participant-directed framework Georgia operates a service called Family Hire: the option to pay a relative as a Personal Support Provider. The Family Hire rules in Chapter 1200 Part II of the COMP/NOW Provider Manual were temporarily liberalized during the COVID public health emergency under federal Appendix K flexibilities. Those flexibilities sunset on November 11, 2023, and the original Family Hire rules came back into force on November 12, 2023.

The reinstated rules treat Family Hire as case-by-case, with documented hardship and annual renewal. The hard exclusions are unchanged: spouses, parents of minor-child recipients, legal guardians, and conservators cannot be Family Hire caregivers. A parent of an adult I/DD waiver recipient is eligible for Family Hire, a meaningful contrast with the parent-of-minor bar.

Caregivers must complete a background check, the PCA exam, TB screening, CPR/First Aid certification, and any other state-mandated training. The DBHDD Family Hire Request form (PD-FAMILY HIRE-REQUEST 12/12/23) routes through the participant's Support Coordinator.

The Financial Management Services entity for NOW/COMP is Public Partnerships LLC (PPL) at 833-726-9467 (cs-gaddw@pplfirst.com).

Pay rates under NOW/COMP participant direction

DBHDD adopted significant NOW/COMP rate increases in the 2024 to 2025 cycle. Participant-Directed rates for Community Living Support and Personal Support Services typically run $14 to $22/hour in 2026 depending on service code, with the participant's individual budget set by Health Risk Screening Tool (HRST) and Supports Intensity Scale (SIS) scoring. Confirm current rates with the participant's Support Coordinator at care-plan time.

The three-tier waitlist

In 2024 Georgia restructured the NOW/COMP waitlist into three tiers: a Planning List, a Short-Term Planning List, and an Active Waitlist, to better triage urgency. The total NOW/COMP wait is multi-year for most families. Ask the DBHDD regional office about the three-tier framework when you initiate the Planning List intake.

Application path: NOW/COMP

1. Apply for Georgia Medicaid.
2. Contact the DBHDD regional office for your county. The six DBHDD Regions handle Planning List intake.
3. Complete the I/DD eligibility documentation, including age-of-onset evidence, IQ testing, and adaptive functioning assessments.
4. Be added to the Planning List. Planning List status does not by itself entitle the recipient to services.
5. As slots open, recipients move to Short-Term Planning List, then Active Waitlist, then enrollment.
6. Once enrolled, elect participant direction and identify the Family Hire caregiver. Submit the PD-FAMILY HIRE-REQUEST form. Annual renewal applies.

Pathway 6: VA Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC)

PCAFC is the only federal program that pays a family caregiver, including a spouse, directly via a monthly tax-free stipend. It is run by the VA's Caregiver Support Program.

Georgia has one of the largest veteran populations in the Southeast, concentrated around metro Atlanta, Columbus (Fort Moore), Augusta (Fort Eisenhower), Savannah (Hunter Army Airfield), and Warner Robins (Robins AFB). Georgia veterans are served primarily by the Atlanta VA Medical Center (Decatur), the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center (Augusta), and the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center (Dublin), all in VISN 7. The VA Caregiver Support Line is 1-855-260-3274.

PCAFC eligibility (38 CFR Part 71)

The veteran must be:

• Rated 70% or higher service-connected (or have an equivalent functional impairment under the post-2020 criteria, including the PACT Act / MISSION Act expansions to all eras of service).
• In need of personal-care services for at least six continuous months.
• Enrolled in VA health care.

The family caregiver must be:

• At least 18 years old.
• A spouse, child, parent, stepfamily member, extended family member, or someone who lives with the veteran full-time.

The 2026 PCAFC stipend formula

The PCAFC monthly stipend is calculated as:

OPM GS-04 Step 1 annual rate × applicable BLS-area locality adjustment ÷ 12, multiplied by 0.625 (Level 1) or 1.00 (Level 2, "unable to self-sustain in the community").

Level 1 (lower need) pays the caregiver 62.5% of the locality-adjusted GS-04 monthly rate. Level 2 (higher need) pays the full rate.

Georgia-specific 2026 stipend estimates

Georgia veterans fall into two OPM locality areas, and the stipend changes by locality.

These are 2026 estimates. Recompute against the live VA Stipend Calculator using the veteran's exact ZIP code before relying on the figures. The stipend is tax-free under §131(c) when paid directly by VA to the family caregiver.

The legacy cohort cliff

VA rulemaking has extended the PCAFC legacy participants' transition period. Legacy participants are veterans who joined PCAFC before October 1, 2020 under the pre-2020 eligibility criteria; under the current transition framework they will need to satisfy the post-2020 criteria within the next several years or lose eligibility. If your Georgia veteran joined PCAFC before October 2020, start planning the reassessment with the VA's Caregiver Support Coordinator at the appropriate Atlanta, Augusta, or Dublin VAMC now.

How to apply: PCAFC

Through the Caregiver Support Program at the veteran's VA medical center, via www.caregiver.va.gov, by calling the Caregiver Stipend Team at 1-833-930-0816, or by calling the Caregiver Support Line at 1-855-260-3274. Application is on VA Form 10-10CG; expect 30 to 90 days from a complete application to first stipend.

Pathway 7: VA Veteran-Directed Care (VDC)

VDC is administered jointly by the Administration for Community Living (ACL) and the VA, with local administration by Georgia Aging and Disability Network Agencies in partnership with the three Georgia VAMCs.

VDC is the federal-funds pathway that pays a spouse to be a caregiver. The veteran receives a monthly self-directed budget, typically $1,800 to $2,600/month depending on assessed need, and uses it to hire their own caregivers, including a spouse, adult children, friends, or in-laws.

Georgia VDC operational status

Georgia is listed by ACL as a participating VDC state, with the Atlanta Regional Commission Area Agency on Aging as a confirmed VDC ADNA partner. Operational availability for the Augusta and Dublin VAMC areas in 2026 should be confirmed by phone before relying on VDC as a pathway. Call:

• Atlanta VAMC (Decatur): 404-321-6111. Ask for the HCBS Coordinator.
• Charlie Norwood VAMC (Augusta): 706-733-0188.
• Carl Vinson VAMC (Dublin): 478-272-1210.

The Fiscal Intermediary for VDC in Georgia is generally Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), consistent with PPL's broader role in NOW/COMP and other VDC implementations.

Stacking PCAFC and VDC

VDC and PCAFC cannot both pay the same family member for the same hours, but a household can have one caregiver paid through PCAFC and a different caregiver paid through VDC, for instance, a spouse on PCAFC plus an adult child paid through VDC for evening shifts. VDC and Aid & Attendance can stack: A&A is a pension supplement to the veteran; VDC is a caregiver wage paid via the FMS entity.

Pathway 8: VA Improved Pension with Aid & Attendance (A&A)

A&A is not a family-caregiver wage program per se. It is a wartime pension supplement that gives the veteran or surviving spouse the income to afford a caregiver, who can be a family member. But it stacks cleanly with every other pathway in this guide.

2026 Maximum Annual Pension Rates (MAPRs), effective Dec 1, 2025 to Nov 30, 2026

Recompute against the live VA Pension Rates page (va.gov/pension/veterans-pension-rates/) before relying on figures. The December 1, 2025 COLA was 2.8%, and small adjustments may apply.

Net-worth and look-back rules

• Net-worth limit (38 CFR § 3.274): $163,699 as of 12/1/2025 (annually indexed).
• Look-back (38 CFR § 3.276): 36 months from claim filing, with a 1 to 5 year potential penalty period for asset transfers.

Who can help, and who can't

38 USC § 5905 prohibits unaccredited persons from charging a fee for assisting with VA pension claims. Georgia has accredited Veteran Service Officers across the state through the Georgia Department of Veterans Service (GDVS) at 404-656-2300. Use them. They are free and accredited. Avoid any "pension consultant" who charges to file your A&A claim. The Georgia War Veterans Home (Milledgeville) and Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home (Augusta) are state-VA nursing home options for eligible veterans, with the daily fee waived for veterans rated 70%+ service-connected.

The Georgia Qualified Caregiving Expense Credit (§ 48-7-29.2)

Georgia has one enacted state caregiver tax credit: the Qualified Caregiving Expense Credit at O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.2.

The current credit

• Nonrefundable.
• 10% of qualified caregiving expenses.
• Maximum credit: $150 per taxpayer per year (10% of up to $1,500 in qualified expenses).

Who qualifies

The qualifying family member must be:

• The taxpayer's spouse, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, sibling, child, or other qualifying relative under the federal definition.
• Age 62 or older OR disabled.
• With income below the federal "qualifying relative" gross-income threshold.

What expenses qualify

• Home health agency fees.
• Personal-care services.
• Homemaker services.
• Adult day care.
• Respite care.
• Certain home modifications.

Pending expansions

Two bills in the 158th General Assembly (2025 to 2026 session) propose expansions:

• SB 187 would raise the maximum credit from $150 to $500 effective for tax years on or after January 1, 2025. Pending, not enacted as of May 2026.
• SB 588 (introduced February 24, 2026) bundles a further tax-credit increase with kin-care leave expansion. Pending, not enacted.

Until either bill is signed, the cap remains $150. Article framing should remain "introduced, not enacted" until passage is confirmed.

Federal tax tools that stack

Federal credits and deductions Georgia caregivers can use alongside the state credit:

• IRC § 21 Child and Dependent Care Credit (work-related care expenses).
• IRC § 129 Dependent Care FSA (up to $7,500 joint for tax year 2026 under TIA 2025 § 70404).
• IRC § 213 medical expense deduction (7.5% AGI floor).
• IRC § 24(h)(4) Credit for Other Dependents: $500 per non-child qualifying dependent.
• IRC § 131(c) Difficulty-of-Care exclusion for live-in Medicaid waiver caregivers (the SFC tax treatment).

Georgia's 30% match of the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit adds modest additional savings, typically around $360/year for a household with the federal credit at average levels.

Federal IRC § 131(c) and Georgia tax conformity

Here's what the federal exclusion means for your household: if you're going to be paid as a live-in SFC caregiver, the tax treatment can flip your effective take-home from "taxable wage that gets eaten by FICA and federal withholding" to "tax-free stipend that still counts as earned income for the EITC." This is one of the most consequential and least-discussed tax questions for Georgia-paid family caregivers, particularly SFC caregivers.

The federal rule (in your favor)

IRS Notice 2014-7 (issued January 3, 2014) and IRC § 131(c) treat qualified Medicaid waiver payments to a live-in care provider as "difficulty-of-care" payments excludable from federal gross income. To qualify:

1. The payments must be made by a state Medicaid waiver program (or a certified Medicaid provider acting under a waiver). Georgia SFC stipends paid through CCSP/SOURCE qualify.
2. The caregiver's home and the care recipient's home must be the same, the live-in test SFC builds in by design.

A Georgia SFC caregiver who lives with the recipient typically reports $0 federal taxable wages on their W-2 box 1, even though they earned $24,000 to $29,000 of gross stipend.

The Feigh / Notice 2020-15 EITC election

The Tax Court in Feigh v. Commissioner, 152 T.C. 267 (2019), affirmed by the 9th Circuit in 2020, plus IRS Notice 2020-15 (March 2020), confirm that a taxpayer may elect to treat difficulty-of-care payments as earned income for purposes of the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit, even when the payments are excluded from gross income. For low- and moderate-income Georgia caregivers with qualifying children, this election is often worth $3,000 to $7,000 a year in federal EITC alone. Make the election.

The Georgia conformity question

Georgia's individual income tax under O.C.G.A. Title 48 conforms broadly to federal AGI, but specific conformity to IRC § 131(c) for state purposes is rarely tested. In practice, most Georgia tax preparers treat the federal exclusion as carrying over to Georgia AGI. Talk to a Georgia-licensed CPA before April 15, 2027 about your SFC stipend or other Medicaid waiver wages, and ask specifically whether they will treat the federal § 131(c) exclusion as flowing through to your Georgia return.

How to become a Georgia paid family caregiver through SFC, step-by-step

If you're going to be paid as a live-in family caregiver through CCSP or SOURCE, this is your operational playbook.

Step 1: Confirm Medicaid eligibility for the care recipient

Apply at gateway.ga.gov or your local DFCS office. For CCSP/SOURCE, the income standard is 300% of the SSI Federal Benefit Rate (~$2,901/month single in 2026), with applicable countable-asset limits ($2,000 single / $3,000 couple under the ABD-Medicaid pathway). Georgia has spousal-impoverishment protections; ask the DFCS specialist for the Community Spouse Resource Allowance calculation.

Step 2: Call the ADRC

1-866-552-4464. The ADRC routes you by ZIP to the appropriate AAA. Tell the intake worker you want to be screened for both CCSP and SOURCE, and ask which has the shorter waitlist in your county.

Step 3: Complete the level-of-care assessment

The AAA case manager (CCSP) or the SOURCE lead-provider clinic completes the DMA-6 / level-of-care assessment. The recipient must be confirmed at nursing-facility level of care, measured by ADL deficits, cognitive impairment, supervision needs, and medical management requirements.

Step 4: Wait for slot availability

CCSP runs a waitlist. SOURCE typically does not. If you can switch tracks to SOURCE based on your loved one's clinical profile, the wait drops significantly.

Step 5: Develop the care plan and elect SFC

Once a slot is confirmed, the case manager develops the care plan. Tell the case manager at the care-plan meeting that you want SFC. Identify a co-resident relative (not a spouse) as the proposed SFC caregiver.

Step 6: Match with an SFC agency

The case manager refers the family to a Medicaid-enrolled SFC agency. Major operators include:

• Careforth: 866-470-3217. Multi-state SFC operator (formerly Seniorlink).
• Structured Family Caregiving of Georgia: 866-938-3738. Newnan, GA.
• Health Force of Georgia: Atlanta-area SFC agency.
• Passion to Care: multi-state SFC operator.

Step 7: RN assessment and caregiver onboarding

The SFC agency RN visits the home, completes the assessment, and confirms the household qualifies. The caregiver completes:

• Criminal background check (Georgia Bureau of Investigation fingerprinting).
• Drug screen and TB test depending on agency policy.
• Caregiver orientation covering the recipient's care plan, mandated-reporter status under Georgia Adult Protective Services, EVV procedures, and infection control.

Step 8: EVV setup

Per 21st Century Cures Act § 12006 (codified at 42 USC § 1396b(l)), all Medicaid-paid personal-care services delivered in the home must use Electronic Visit Verification. Georgia's state EVV vendor is Mobile Caregiver+ (Netsmart, formerly Tellus/Conduent). The customer support line is 833-483-5587. The caregiver logs each shift's start, location, and end via the smartphone app.

Step 9: Direct deposit begins

The agency runs weekly or bi-weekly payroll. Federal income tax is excluded under § 131(c) for the live-in caregiver. FICA still applies (though the 2014 IRS guidance confused this for years; the SFC agency's payroll vendor handles the correct treatment).

Step 10: Mandatory-reporter status

All SFC caregivers are mandated reporters of suspected elder abuse under Georgia's Adult Protective Services framework. Suspected abuse is reported to Georgia APS at 1-866-552-4464 (the same ADRC number routes APS reports) or 1-888-774-0152 for after-hours.

A 30-day playbook for newly-diagnosed Georgia families

Use this when a parent has just been diagnosed with a serious condition (dementia, stroke, advanced Parkinson's, terminal cancer) and you know you'll be the primary caregiver.

Days 1 to 3. Call ADRC 1-866-552-4464 to be routed to your AAA. Schedule a free needs assessment. While on hold, write down: the care recipient's diagnoses, current medications, primary insurance(s), Medicare/Medicaid status, monthly income, and assets.

Days 4 to 7. Apply for Georgia Medicaid at gateway.ga.gov, even if you're not sure your loved one will qualify. The "deny" letter starts the appeal clock. Request the DMA-6 assessment in parallel. If your loved one is medically complex, ask the AAA whether SOURCE is a faster track than CCSP.

Days 8 to 14. Receive the assessment and the level-of-care determination. Identify the proposed live-in family caregiver (must not be a spouse). Begin gathering background-check documents.

Days 15 to 30. As slot availability clears, develop the care plan with the case manager. Elect SFC at the care-plan meeting. The case manager refers you to an SFC agency. Caregiver onboarding (background check, training, EVV) begins.

Days 30 to 90+. Underlying waiver enrollment finalizes. SFC agency RN assessment completes. First SFC paycheck arrives 1 to 2 pay cycles after EVV-validated shift logs begin.

If your loved one is a wartime veteran, file for VA Aid & Attendance through the GDVS at 404-656-2300 and screen for PCAFC eligibility at the appropriate Georgia VAMC. If you're employed in Georgia and need extended leave, file for federal FMLA with your employer (12 weeks unpaid, 50+ employee threshold) and check whether your employer offers paid sick leave you can use under the Georgia Family Care Act.

Georgia vs. peer states: the comparison most families want

Georgia is on the more restrictive end of the national distribution on family caregiver payment, particularly on the spouse-pay question. Here is how it stacks up against neighboring and peer states.

Two things stand out. First, Georgia's SFC daily rate is competitive with North Carolina's and exceeds Tennessee's state caregiver stipend, meaningful for families willing to commit a co-resident relative to full-time caregiving. Second, Georgia is uniformly closed to spouse-pay through Medicaid, placing it alongside Pennsylvania and Tennessee on the restrictive side, and well behind New Jersey, New York, and Florida.

The Georgia Family Care Act: kin-care sick leave

Georgia has no state Paid Family Leave program for private-sector workers. The closest analog is the Georgia Family Care Act at O.C.G.A. § 34-1-10, enacted as SB 201 in 2017, made permanent in 2023 (Ga. L. 2023, p. 90) when the original sunset clause was removed.

What the Family Care Act does

If your employer:

• Has 25 or more employees, AND
• Voluntarily provides paid sick leave, AND
• You work at least 30 hours per week,

then you may use up to 5 days of accrued paid sick leave per year to care for an immediate family member (children, spouse, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, or anyone listed as a dependent on the employee's most recent tax return).

What it does NOT do

• It does not require employers to offer paid sick leave.
• It is not state-funded paid family leave.
• There is no private right of action. Enforcement is limited.

State employee paid parental leave

Georgia's HB 1010 (signed 2024) expanded state employee paid parental leave to 240 hours (~6 weeks). This applies to state executive branch and public school employees only, not to private-sector workers and not to caregiving leave for an aging parent.

Federal FMLA

Federal FMLA provides 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per 12 months for employers with 50+ employees, available to employees with 12 months of tenure and 1,250 hours worked. Georgia caregivers should treat FMLA as the floor and Family Care Act sick-leave use as the supplement.

Federal Medicaid changes Georgia caregivers should track (2026 to 2028)

Here's what this means for your household: federal Medicaid is being reshaped in ways that will reach Georgia waiver economics over the next two years. Several federal changes enacted in 2025 will phase in beginning fall 2026, including new community-engagement (work) requirements for ACA expansion-population adults and changes to retroactive Medicaid eligibility windows. Georgia operates the Pathways to Coverage §1115 waiver, which already imposes work requirements on its expansion-adjacent population; CMS approved a Pathways extension through December 31, 2026 on September 25, 2025, with new qualifying activity for parents of children under 6 enrolled in Medicaid.

If your household is in or approaching Medicaid eligibility, track DCH's implementation guidance and the Pathways renewal cycle closely. The most significant downstream effects on Georgia HCBS will arrive after 2026 as federal financing rules and waiver authorities shift, but timing and operational impact are not yet settled.

Georgia legislation worth watching (2025 to 2026 sessions)

• SB 187: Caregiver Tax Credit expansion ($150 to $500). Pending.
• SB 588: Caregiver Tax Credit further increase + kin-care leave expansion (15 days). Introduced Feb 24, 2026.
• HB 68 / FY2026 Health & Human Development budget: funding for DAS NFCSP, respite, and DBHDD waiver slots.
• HB 111 / HB 463: state income tax cuts (downstream effect on tax-credit calculations).
• CMS waiver amendments: Pathways to Coverage extension through 12/31/2026; CCSP/SOURCE renewal cycles; NOW/COMP rate-rebasing.
• PACE rollout: DCH issued a PACE RFP in April 2025; no Georgia PACE program is operational at scale as of May 2026.

What Georgia does NOT have

Two things Georgia notably lacks compared to peer states:

• A state Paid Family Leave program for private workers. Tennessee's TN Family Caregiver Stipend, New Jersey's FLI, New York's PFL, California's PFL: none have a Georgia equivalent. The Family Care Act covers only voluntary employer-offered sick leave.
• A statewide PACE program. PACE is operational in most peer states. Georgia's PACE rollout is in procurement but not yet at scale as of May 2026.

Two things Georgia does have that peer states often don't:

• Structured Family Caregiving across both major HCBS waivers. Many SFC states operate it under only one waiver authority, narrowing access. Georgia's CCSP+SOURCE coverage is comparatively broad.
• A categorical state caregiver tax credit on the books (§ 48-7-29.2): small, but unlike most states, it exists in statute and is poised for expansion.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can my spouse be paid as my caregiver in Georgia?

Not through Georgia Medicaid. Across SFC, CCSP self-direction, SOURCE self-direction, ICWP self-direction, and NOW/COMP Family Hire, a legally-recognized spouse cannot be the paid family caregiver. The only spousal-pay pathway in Georgia is the VA stack: PCAFC, Veteran-Directed Care, and (indirectly, by giving the veteran more pension income) Aid & Attendance.

2. How much does Structured Family Caregiving pay in Georgia?

The 2026 SFC stipend in Georgia runs roughly $80 a day, about $560/week and $1,987 to $2,400/month depending on assessed acuity tier. The stipend is tax-free under IRC § 131(c) when the caregiver lives with the Medicaid recipient. The exact daily rate is set in each waiver's fee schedule and is paid by the SFC agency to the family caregiver, with the agency retaining 35% to 50% to fund Care Coach visits, RN supervision, training, and overhead.

3. Who is eligible to be the SFC caregiver?

Any adult relative by blood or marriage (adult child, parent of an adult recipient, sibling, in-law, niece, nephew, grandchild, cousin) who is 18 or older, lives in the same home as the Medicaid recipient, passes a criminal background check, provides at least 5 hours of caregiving per day, and is unable to work outside the home because of caregiving responsibilities. Spouses, parents of minor-child recipients, legal guardians, and conservators are categorically excluded.

4. What's the difference between CCSP and SOURCE?

CCSP, Community Care Services Program, serves adults 65+ or younger adults with disabilities at nursing-facility level of care. CCSP runs a waitlist when slot capacity is reached.

SOURCE, Service Options Using Resources in a Community Environment, serves frail elderly or disabled adults who additionally have documented chronic medical conditions requiring active medical management. SOURCE is delivered through SOURCE-enrolled lead primary care providers that combine primary care with HCBS authorization. SOURCE typically has no waitlist, a major practical advantage.

Both waivers offer SFC, both offer participant direction, and both apply the same family-hire rules (spouse-bar, parent-of-minor-bar, guardian/conservator-bar).

5. How long does it take to start getting paid through SFC?

Typically 90 to 180 days from the day you first call the ADRC, assuming a straightforward Medicaid eligibility case and SOURCE-track enrollment (no waitlist). The slowest stage for most families is the underlying CCSP or SOURCE waiver enrollment, including the level-of-care assessment, slot wait, and care-plan development. Once the waiver is in place, layering SFC adds 45 to 90 days for SFC agency assessment, caregiver onboarding, EVV setup, and first paycheck.

6. Are SFC stipends tax-free?

Federal: yes, if you live with the care recipient. IRS Notice 2014-7 and IRC § 131(c) treat qualified Medicaid waiver payments to a live-in care provider as difficulty-of-care payments excludable from federal gross income. Georgia: in practice yes, generally, though Georgia's specific conformity to § 131(c) is rarely tested at the state level. A Georgia-licensed CPA should confirm before relying on the exclusion for state purposes.

7. Can I claim the federal EITC if my SFC payments are excluded under § 131(c)?

Yes, and you should. The Tax Court in Feigh v. Commissioner (2019), affirmed by the 9th Circuit (2020), and IRS Notice 2020-15 confirm you may elect to treat difficulty-of-care payments as earned income for EITC and Additional Child Tax Credit purposes. For low-income Georgia caregivers with qualifying children, this election is often worth $3,000 to $7,000 in federal EITC.

8. What's the Georgia Qualified Caregiving Expense Credit and who qualifies?

O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.2 establishes a nonrefundable state income tax credit equal to 10% of qualified caregiving expenses, capped at $150 per taxpayer per year. The qualifying family member must be age 62+ or disabled, with income below the federal qualifying-relative gross-income threshold. Qualified expenses include home health agency fees, personal-care services, homemaker services, adult day care, respite, and certain home modifications. Two pending bills, SB 187 and SB 588, would raise the cap, but neither is enacted as of May 2026.

9. What about caring for a Georgia veteran, what's the highest-paid stack?

A married wartime Georgia veteran can typically combine: VA Aid & Attendance (~$2,874/month for a married veteran with one dependent), VA Veteran-Directed Care ($1,800 to $2,600/month paid to a spouse as caregiver), and VA PCAFC stipend (if a different family member is the PCAFC primary caregiver, approximately $3,034/month in Rest-of-Georgia and $3,209/month in the Atlanta locality at Level 2). Total monthly value: easily $7,000 to $8,500 when fully stacked. The catch: each program has its own paperwork. Use a free Georgia-accredited GDVS Veteran Service Officer (never a paid pension consultant) to navigate.

10. How does PCAFC differ from VDC?

PCAFC is a monthly tax-free stipend paid by VA directly to a primary family caregiver (including a spouse) of a veteran rated 70%+ service-connected with qualifying functional impairment. Georgia Level 2 stipends in 2026 are approximately $3,034/month in the Rest-of-Georgia locality and $3,209/month in the Atlanta locality.

VDC gives the veteran a self-directed monthly budget ($1,800 to $2,600/month typically) to spend on the caregivers and supports of their choice, including hiring a spouse, adult child, or friend as a paid worker through an FMS entity. Both can exist in one household, but not for the same hours of the same caregiver.

11. Can Georgia parents of children with developmental disabilities be paid through NOW or COMP?

Yes, through Family Hire under participant-directed services in NOW or COMP, case-by-case with documented hardship and annual renewal. The COVID-era Appendix K flexibilities sunset on November 11, 2023, and the original Provider Manual rules came back into force on November 12, 2023. A parent of an adult I/DD recipient is eligible; a parent of a minor-child recipient is barred under federal §1915 legally-responsible-relative rules. Spouses, legal guardians, and conservators are also barred.

12. Does Georgia have a state Paid Family Leave program?

No state PFL for private-sector workers. The closest analog is the Georgia Family Care Act (O.C.G.A. § 34-1-10), which lets you use up to 5 days of accrued paid sick leave per year to care for an immediate family member, but only if your employer voluntarily offers paid sick leave. State employees have a separate paid parental leave program of up to 240 hours under HB 1010 (2024). Federal FMLA provides 12 weeks of unpaid leave for employees of 50+-employee firms.

13. What is the ADRC and why should I call it first?

The Aging & Disability Resource Connection at 1-866-552-4464 is Georgia's single statewide entry point for older adults and people with disabilities seeking long-term services and supports. ADRC routes you by ZIP to one of 12 Area Agencies on Aging that handle CCSP and SOURCE intake, NFCSP respite, options counseling, and benefits screening. ADRC is the right first call regardless of whether you ultimately end up on Medicaid; they screen for both Medicaid and non-Medicaid pathways.

14. Where do I start if I'm completely overwhelmed?

Make exactly two phone calls today:

• Aging & Disability Resource Connection: 1-866-552-4464. They will route you to your AAA and start the CCSP/SOURCE/SFC and NFCSP processes.
• Georgia Department of Veterans Service: 404-656-2300 if your loved one is a veteran. Ask for an accredited GDVS Veteran Service Officer to file Aid & Attendance and screen for PCAFC.

Then sit down with a notebook and write the basics: your loved one's diagnoses, medications, current insurance, monthly income, assets, and the names and ages of any other family members who might share caregiving. That notebook is the document every assessor, social worker, and accredited VSO will ask you to read from over the next 90 days.

Georgia crisis lines and helplines

• Aging & Disability Resource Connection (ADRC): 1-866-552-4464, the Georgia-wide ADRC, the first call most families should make.
• Georgia Adult Protective Services: 1-866-552-4464 (routes through ADRC) / 1-888-774-0152 after-hours.
• Georgia Department of Veterans Service (GDVS): 404-656-2300.
• VA Caregiver Support Line: 1-855-260-3274.
• VA Caregiver Stipend Team: 1-833-930-0816.
• Atlanta VA Medical Center: 404-321-6111.
• Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center (Augusta): 706-733-0188.
• Carl Vinson VA Medical Center (Dublin): 478-272-1210.
• Alliant GMCF (ICWP intake): 800-982-0411 / 888-669-7195.
• DBHDD intake (NOW/COMP): 1-800-436-7442.
• Public Partnerships LLC (NOW/COMP FMS): 833-726-9467.
• Mobile Caregiver+ EVV support: 833-483-5587.
• Georgia Long-Term Care Ombudsman: 1-866-552-4464 (routes through ADRC).
• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
• 2-1-1 Georgia: general health-and-human-services 211.
• Alzheimer's Association Georgia Chapter 24/7 Helpline: 1-800-272-3900.

Where to start today

1. Call ADRC 1-866-552-4464 and request an AAA assessment for both CCSP and SOURCE screening, and ask which has the shorter waitlist in your county.
2. Apply for Georgia Medicaid at gateway.ga.gov, even if you're not sure your loved one will qualify. The "deny" letter starts the appeal clock.
3. If your loved one is a veteran, call GDVS at 404-656-2300 and ask for a free accredited Veteran Service Officer to file Aid & Attendance and screen for PCAFC at the appropriate Atlanta, Augusta, or Dublin VAMC.
4. Identify a proposed live-in family caregiver who is not a spouse, not a parent of a minor-child recipient, and not a guardian/conservator. SFC needs a relative by blood or marriage who can share the household.
5. Write down your loved one's diagnoses, medications, monthly income, and assets in one notebook. Take it to every appointment.
6. Talk to a Georgia-licensed CPA who knows IRC § 131(c) federal/state interaction before April 15, 2027.

Read next

• Caregiver support programs in Georgia (overview)
• Georgia caregiver respite care guide
• Dementia care in Georgia
• Georgia Medicaid waivers (CCSP, SOURCE, ICWP, NOW, COMP)
• Georgia Medicaid eligibility and how to apply
• Veteran caregiver benefits, federal pathways
• Aid & Attendance, VA Improved Pension

Find personalized help mapping your Georgia paid family caregiver pathway at brevy.com.